Peterborough – Peterborough Cathedral (1762 Sundial)

And another in my series of posts about Peterborough Cathedral, this is the sundial on the western frontage of the building. It is dated 1762 and is painted onto the stonework, with a further three dates of 1914, 1968 and 2009 below it, which is when it was restored. This sundial can only be used to tell the time in the afternoon and early evening, although there are other sundials on other sides of the building.

When it was repainted in 2009 it had become almost impossible to see because of pollution having faded it away, so I can only imagine that it was effectively impossible to notice during the entire nineteenth century. Unless that is there was some repainting, but they never noted on the wall the date of the restoration. The monks in the cathedral had been using sundials before the reformation, so perhaps this is even older than it appears.